Google mobile biking directions and navigation cycles into the UK

Google has announced that it is bringing biking directions to the mobile, allowing cyclists to navigate around the UK and other countries from their smartphone, or maybe even their camera.

The new feature follows the company's launch of bike routes on the desktop and means you can ditch the laptop.

Mobile biking directions and navigation will be available in 10 countries initially: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

"We’re adding turn-by-turn, voice-guided biking navigation to Google Maps Navigation (beta) in every country with biking directions," said Larry Powelson, a software engineer at Google Maps. "Mount your device on your handlebars to see the turn-by-turn directions and navigation, or use speaker-mode to hear voice-guided directions."

According to Google there are more than 330,000 miles of green biking lines in Google Maps, and for those afraid of the hills, biking navigation even helps you avoid steep climbs.